Unspoken
by Great Diabla Assassin
Summary: Little snippets of a bigger story that probably won't be posted for a while. A test series with lots of fluff, some sadness, and tons of trouble-making and maybe some love? Chapter8, Wheeljack Confetti?
1. Orange!

IF only things were so simple in life. As I sit here, high on a cold, I couldn't help but think that. Just thought you should know. Dx Who knew hand sanitizer could be my best friend?

And I wanted to get myself a G1 Wheeljack transformer but every time I look on Ebay it makes me sad. I mean, it's like people scrapped him for parts! ToT I hope you like this little snippet, and I hope there aren't that many mistakes in it!

_**Summary:**__ Tensions are high, and evil memories find a way to bleed into a certain Ex-Con's Processor, and the last thing he needs is his charge causing _more_ problems…_

_This side story explains how Barricade earned his nickname, along with how Zackery got her bandana and why she never takes it off.  
_

_**Warnings:**__ Ratchet being Ratchet, along with some very dramatic memories._

_**Disclaimer: I Own Nuffing!**_

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* * *

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"I'm fairly disappointed in you, Zackery…"

Optimus Prime; leader of the Autobots, stood in one of the many hallways constructed beneath Diego Garcia with his arms crossed. His towering figure completely dwarfed the severely wounded 12 year old child standing before his feet.

Her black hair was riddled with grease and muck; the sling for her left arm was ripped; the bandages covering part of her head and left eye were slackened, and despite whatever pain she was in, Zackery stood as tall as she possibly could with her only visible blue eye blazing pure defiance...

_Ratchet is _not_ going to be happy about this…_

"You could have been seriously harmed had we not found you."

_You don't know that for sure, tin-can. _Zackery mentally grouched. She was tired of being confined to the med-bay with Ratchet there, griping whenever he could about her condition. _**Samantha**__ was hurt too. Why am _I_ the only one stuck with The Hatchet while she gets to run around? It's not fair…_

Of course, she would never say it out loud, let alone look the gentle metal giant in the optics when he spoke. Being around him always irritated her more than Bumblebee _ever_ had. Maybe she was starting to adopt some of her Guardian's characteristics?

The thought alone was _almost_ enough to lighten her mood.

"Ratchet had specifically given you instructions to stay within the medical ward until you were healed."

_Which also means, 'stop running off and fritzing the medic'._

"Barricade was also very upset and has considered grounding you from the base."

'_When you get back to the states, he's going to make a collar and chain you to a door.'_

"What if the Decepticons had attacked, **again**?"

'_You would have been a liability__**, again**__. We don't have the resources to be able to save you a _second_ time.'_

"Zackery, look at me please."

'_Are you even listening?'_

"I don't want to. Just kick me off base already and be done with it. It's obvious hardly anybody wants me here, anyways."

The Prime knew he had never been on good terms with the Witwicky child since her mother's death, and he understood the circumstances as to _why_. But being kidnapped by the Decepticons and nearly _killed_ had put him, along with everyone else, on high alert; that and adding her inability to remain still in one room for more than 5 minutes was making things much worse.

He was surprised her Guardian's processors hadn't simply short circuited by now.

With her being injured and half-blind, Optimus had thought she would be more careful (and he honestly thought she would be a bit more…traumatized from the whole event.) But the first time he had received a ping stating she had disappeared, the whole base went on a level two security lockdown and began a search party. Even the miniature set of twins were panicking. After 4 worrisome hours of searching, they finally found the girl, stuck in one of the ventilation shafts, with the help of Wheelie.

They couldn't necessarily stick a tracking device on her, but the Autobot leader was seriously considering on asking for her Guardian's permission to do so. He, along with everyone else on base had so much already on their tired processors…

To top it all off, this is the third time she decided to pull a disappearing act on them.

"Doing so would be putting you right back into Decepticon possession. You are safer here, but you must understand that disappearing like this is doing much more harm than good. I am sure Ratchet would like to have a word with you about this before handing you back over to your Guardian's for a proper punishment."

Zackery could _hear_ the Prime's tension filled shoulder struts pop slightly when he moved to kneel before her with his palm out and facing upwards.

"I understand you find being confined to the medical ward a nuisance…" He ignored the sound she made as she stood her ground. Optimus knew her 'I'm being defiant, leave me alone' act could only go so long. He was quite happy he was a patient mech.

There was always option 'B' as well…

"But if you continue with this behavior, I will speak to Ratchet and Barricade about a possible beacon system to place on you."

There was a small silence, and Zackery got the impression that there was little she could do about the tiny threat the Prime had given. So, giving in to her wounds and tired mind, she reluctantly slid onto the massive servo.

* * *

It had taken the medic a few hours to get the youngling fixed back up and laying in bed (but not without a very strict lecture and few painful 'whaps' of his finger to her forehead) and he constantly rattled on about sticking a beeper under her skin in case her 'rejected scrap heap of a Guardian' lost her, _again_.

"You are **THIS CLOSE-**" he ranted, turning to wave a laser scalpel dangerously close to Barricade's optics. "To having me ask Prime to remove you as her caretaker! What in_**the PIT**_were you_**THINKING**_ in letting her wander with that **idiot** on wheels? Oh, if you weren't religious before, you had better start _praying_ to Primus and the Un-Maker _himself_ that I don't find my welding torch or _**so help me**_-'

If there was one thing Barricade had quickly learned when staying with the Autobots (even if it was only temporary), it was the fact that _everything_ in the medic's hands became a potential weapon that promised pain and a horrible dismantling.

And there was no option to look towards Autobot leader for help, as it seemed the Prime favored self preservation over suicide and stood quietly on the sidelines a good distance from the CMO.

If Sideswipe had not walked-er…rolled in, the irate lime-colored mech would have burned out his optics!

Ratchet's rant quickly ceased as his vision snapped to the grinning 'idiot on wheels' he had so graciously dubbed, and the grin said mech sported was quickly replaced with widened optics and a squeak (yeah…he _squeaked_) of terror as the medic's inner workings rumbled with fury.

"_**You.**_"

Who knew the Hatchet could make one word make you nearly purge your tanks in fear?

Maybe it was a medic thing…

"Ratchet, please calm yourself for a moment, or you'll wake the youngling."

"Calm down? _Calm __**down**_? ("Ratchet…") This slagger could have gotten her _killed _("_**Ratchet**_...") and he waltzes into **my** med-bay with the _nerve_ to even grin-"

**.:Ratchet.:.**

The message sent over the private channel was simple, but filled with authority only the Prime was capable of. With his engines still rumbling in anger, Ratchet quickly ceased his yelling and proceeded to point the laser scalpel in the silver twin's direction. A silent promise of a slow and painful off-lining was in order.

Barricade, on the other hand, was thinking about the idea of stripping the tires right off of the mech and beating his processor to nothing but a pile of dust for 'kidnapping' his charge and then leaving her to her own devices.

_If her mother were alive, she'd be a far worse threat than any medic. Or Decepticon, for that matter…_

After few minutes of silent fuming from Ratchet, Sideswipe's grin returned, and Optimus was fairly sure the twin might have lost his mind….though some would say he and his brother were never sane to begin with.

"Sideswipe, please refrain from making him any more upset than he already is…Ratchet, I would like to speak to you in private, please."

With a huff of hot air from his intakes, Ratchet headed to another part of the med bay with the leader (to work up some evil awesome secret plans), leaving Barricade and Sideswipe alone.

* * *

Former Decepticon and current Autobot had a stare-down. Barricade _hated_ this silver mech with a fiery passion. Not only did the femme _enjoy_ his company, but the idiot was also a bad influence on her! Whenever he or his sibling got an itch to pull whatever hideously planned pranks their fried processors could come up with, both would find a way to coax her into it. And the _stories_ they told her were completely **outrageous**!

"_Taking out Shockwave single-handedly? __**Please**_._ You don't actually _believe_ that, do you?"_

Honestly….the only thing those two trouble-makers were truly capable of doing was annoying the slag out of him.

"Why such a face, Decepticon?"

And he also had an annoying habit of trying to egg the Ex-Con into a fight. Oh, how badly he knew the Corvette Twin wanted the femme to be removed from his care…the thought made his systems rumble in irritation.

"Whatever you're going on about, save it you little _punk_." Barricade snarled. "So either _get lost_ or power down your vocalizer before I'm tempted to rip it out!"

Sideswipe merely made a 'tsk' noise and his grin turned into a smirk. That familiar, annoying 'I-am-better-than-you' smirk Barricade wished he could wipe right off with a shot to the face. It would make his systems feel a lot more relaxed, at least.

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll have to decline your most generous offer!" the silver mech practically sang. "I just wanted to drop by an' ask her a question. Is that so bad, _Pops_?"

The Ex-Con seethed at nickname.

"She's _my_ charge and she will be fine without whatever other useless trinket you have acquired for her, pest. Now beat it!"

"A bit touchy today, are we? Well I won't take long so I'll wake her-"

Barricade cut him off with a quick _clack_ of his claws being extended and poised while Sideswipe's own twin blades emerged from within his arms. One mech was snarling; the other nearly cackling in mirth as they both eyed each other.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"It's not _my_ fault you're always on edge….it isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Makes games like this a little more fun, don't you think?"

"We'll see who is calling it a game when I'm finished scrapping your grey carcass!"

"Old habits die hard, Deceptiscum!"

They both lunged at each other.

* * *

Zackery was jolted from her much needed (and much enjoyed) rest by a deafening _BAM!_ followed by the very familiar sound of Cybertronian metal meeting concrete. Turning her head so she could see, she quickly regretted it as a silver and black mass tumbled across the floor.

_Are they seriously going to do this in the _Med-bay_?_

Oh, they would never really try to _kill_ each other. Sideswipe knew how much she cared for her guardian, and Barricade really couldn't kill an Autobot without some his processor being melted down by carnivorous metal-eating nanites, courtesy of Ratchet and her father. But that didn't mean they couldn't rough each other up, or rip a few sensitive wires.

"Is this what you guys call the robot version of the Hanky Panky?"

The mass of metal broke apart and both mechs stood. Sideswipe was all but smiling, his shiny finish now scuffed with chalky white streaks. Barricade's systems were venting hot air as he growled.

_He's literally steaming!_

"My, what a _beautiful_ look you've got going there, Zack! You sleep well? Didn't mean to wake you, but I really, really, _really_ have to ask you something _important_!" Sideswipe chimed, making Barricade grump a noise.

**.:Aft kisser:.**

**.:You're just jealous:.**

**.:**_**Jealous**_**? Of an Autobot with the processing power of a sparkling? Pah!:.**

"Ratchet's going to be mad when he finds out you woke me up."

"It was a group effort, totally worth it, and you love me too much to even _think_ of such betrayal…by the way, what's your favorite color?"

**.:**_**I **_**could have told you that:.**

**.:I don't like you enough. Sorry **_**Pops**_**:.**

Zackery looked the corvette twin up and down while picking at a bandage on her arm. She knew he meant no harm, but Sideswipe was already treading on thin ice with Ratchet, and Barricade obviously wanted to tear him a new exhaust pipe for waking her up.

She sighed.

"Sideswipe…my favorite color is orange, you know this. Can I go back to sleep, now?"

**.:Yes, aft-kisser. Crawl back to the Pit from whence you came:.**

**.:I didn't know you could be so poetic!:.**

"_Orange_? Are you serious? That's the most annoying color I've ever set optics on! How could you favor such a horrid abomination?"

Ah, there it was. _The hidden agenda_.

Barricade had heard the explanation before as to why his charge adored the ghastly color. He had really hated it with a passion afterwards, but there was no way he would waste his time or precious energy to really go through with destroying every little trinket given to her from the twins (or anyone else for that matter) that ended up being the cursed color.

Seriously…did Sideswipe have to keep throwing it in his face whenever he could?

"How could you _not_ remember? I know I told you…."

"_Clearly_ I need my memory bank refreshed. I give you the honors, of course."

"Uhg….you promise to let me sleep after?"

"Cross my spark!"

Just listening to the twin made Barricade want to 'throw up', as the humans would say.

_Primus forbid the femme from ever having to repeat this conversation_, he had said after the first time Zackery explained her most loved color. But Sideswipe just wouldn't let it _go_, and would get her to repeat it _in front of _Barricade whenever he damn well could.

The Ex-Con now believed Primus had a horrible sense of humor.

"Well, remember when you and Sunstreaker asked me one day which one of you I thought was better?"

**.: I wish I could deactivate you for putting me through this:.**

**.:Shh! This is my favorite part!:.**

"I had to think about it for a bit, actually. You both really aren't that bad…and it's hard to choose between the two of you. If you think about it, you can't have one twin without the other….and then I remember you telling me how you and Sunstreaker used to be red and yellow. You can't have too much yellow or two much red, and you really can't have orange without either of them so…"

Zackery heard Sideswipe _crooning_ at her. She could also see Barricade standing behind the twin with his arms crossed and pretending to be interested in something on the wall.

"Hey 'Sides? Can you go now? I'm tired…."

That made the silver mech's croon stop immediately, and he pouted slightly. "Alright…I'll tell Sunny you're feeling better. Oh! Be sure to stop by after you're up! We've got something for you!"

* * *

Only Barricade seemed more than pleased when the twin _finally_ decided to leave. No sooner had the door hissed shut, the room became encased with an awkward air, the femme nervously twiddling her blanket.

He really hated it when she was fidgety. The annoying little noises she would make seemed louder to him than anyone else; mumbling she had directed at herself was heard only by him, and she had a strange habit of mixing her words into untranslatable gibberish whenever she had became too nervous or very upset. His charge had an array of very strange habits, most only he knew about. Some were quite obvious while some were so discreet, you wouldn't notice them unless you actually _looked_.

"Pops…"

The Ex-Con felt his systems go at full alert, little program warnings lighting up at the strained whimper he had heard from the child.

"You're…not mad at me….are you? When I yelled back there…"

A minute pang of sympathy tugged at his spark as Zackery's sniffles became evident, but it was ignored.

Of course he was upset with her! After the N.E.S.T team had begun to retreat, he had stayed behind to ensure the last of the humans could make it out.

Bad idea on his part…

Somewhere in that time, the girl's father had disappeared and she managed to slip away from her human guard to search for him.

Bad idea on her part…

He told her to run and began to fend off Megatron to the best of his ability, a fight he knew he could never win. The Ex-Con's status as a defector only made Megatron's hatred grow with each vicious tear into Barricade's armor, and before the final blow, the femme had yelled something…what was it, again? He couldn't remember…

But it was enough to pause the Decepticon leader in his attack and turn to the brat with the intent to kill. The broken and battered child had had the full attention of the sick and twisted mind of Megatron, and now she suffered a severe handicap of being blind. If Optimus had not shown up when he did…

Barricade didn't even want to think of it as he watched the girl sniffle and hiccup. Why was she still fidgeting?

"That is not my designation. And yes, I'm upset. In fact, I'm far more than upset." His systems revved, but the Ex-Con fought to keep his vocaliser in check. It would do no good to have Zackery stammering a fit to a point where she couldn't even be understood. And that nickname…oh how he _hated_ it. He hadn't minded at first….the femme was traumatized and going into shock, her father nor any Autobots where in sight….

"_Femme…__**femme**__ listen to me. Don't close your eyes, understand? Fem…__**Zackery**__ stay with me!"_

"_D-don't…"_

"_That's it, just keep speaking! Ratchet is almost here-"_

"And if you ever-"

"_RUN you idiot!"_

"_**EVER**_ disobey me, again-"

"_DADDY!"_

"Zackery Banes Witwicky-"

"_P-please don't leave me! I'm scared! Don't leave me, too! Don't leave me, don't leave me like they did! PLEASE!"_

"I'll make your life more miserable than it already is-"

"_I won't, just calm down."_

"Do you understand?"

He knew she wouldn't make eye contact with him, but the frenzied nod of her head was all he needed before his systems hissed and began to relax back to their normal settings.

"Good. Now go back to sleep." And with that, he left the Med-bay.

* * *

Whatever dignity he had was quickly forgotten as he watched his charge interact with her younger sister in the mess hall a few weeks after her bandages were removed. His face had an agape expression, one Sideswipe was far too happy to capture in his memory for later abuse as he stood next to the Ex-Con. Even Sunstreaker was enjoying Barricade's reaction to the new gift Zackery was showing off to her sibling.

The bright orange cloth with intricate silver lines making out Cybertronian symbols that she had wrapped around her head made it far more easier than he had thought to spot her.

But it wasn't the ghastly color that was causing his current situation. It was the meaning of the symbols Sunstreaker had laced throughout the cloth that had Barricade at a loss for words.

"It's an old song our Creators used to sing." Sideswipe explained with glee, waving as the Witwicky sisters looked in their direction. "I know you sang it once for 'lil Zack, and she told me you could only hum it since you didn't know the words…."

"Don't get us wrong, we really want nothing to do with you." Sunstreaker interjected, earning a glare from the Ex-Con. "But if it helps with the nightmares, I'm willing to lend a hand, if only just this once. For her sake."

"It's easier to see her from this far, too! So you won't _lose_ her anymore." Sideswipe added.

Barricade's glare diminished when he turned his attention back to the girls. He refused to even _think_ about thanking them. It was just another trick to earn his charge's favor, another trick to get him to lash out and landed in the brig. _Insubordination he couldn't afford…_

Zackery pulled Samantha towards the group, grinning all the while.

"Pops! Sammy wants to see your transformation! She doesn't believe you're a police car!"

Ignoring the sniggers from the twins and N.E.S.T personnel within the area, his stared at the femmes for a moment, still unable to tear his optics from the bright coloring.

He would have to find some way to get her to wear the blasted thing constantly. There was no way in the Pit he was going to let her run off again and leave him to the mercy of Ratchet.

* * *

Please don't kill me! TwT I really don't want to post my fanfic online, yet. I want to know what everyone thinks of this, first! If I can pull off the side stories (and actually have people like them) then the full story will surely be a blast for everyone! (I hope!) If you're confused by anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Also, please review! I won't know how it is if you don't review...And I'm sorry if anyone seems out of character...a flame about this is welcome, if it makes you feel better...


	2. Small Comfort

Hallo again! Wow, I'm surprised at how many hits my first chapter got! About 38! I was going to post the second chapter earlier, but then I gasped when I looked through my e-mail…_a review!_ Oh dear sweet Primus, I was so happy! So instead of putting up the chapter explaining Sunstreaker's willingness to participate in Sideswipe's gift-giving, I shall put up this chapter just for Kiren!

_**Kiren Wrote: **__Interesting. But I would like to read story behind Barricade becoming Ex-Con... and about his nanies..._

And you shall have it! Please note it explains _just_ enough to give you and idea, but not everything. I can't go and tell the whole story, yet! xp

It is very hard typing with a cat sitting on my arms…I feel so very accomplished right now. Anyone else have any questions? I've already reserved the next chapter for ILoveLamp's request; anyone else want in? owo Pm me or leave a review!

_**Summary:**__ After her mother's death, Zackery is succumbed to horrible nightmares and is forced to relive the moment over and over again. Even in the years to come, they will still plague her. One night she seeks comfort from her Guardian and realizes she isn't the only one being haunted…_

_Set 3 months after Mikaela's demise._

_**Warnings:**__ Brutal mutilation and torture._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Obviously I wouldn't be writing fan fiction if I owned Transformers…_

**Small Comforts

* * *

**

There were very few moments in his life where Barricade found himself feeling the throes of fear. Growing up in a war tends to do that to someone's personality matrix, and the Decepticon himself was no exception.

Correction; he was a _neutral_ now.

A defector, a traitor, a soldier abandoning his place from the faction he had sided with for well over a millennia. But survival and sheer blind _terror_ that had flooded his systems enough to make that decision really could make him care less. Being wounded and left behind for your enemies entertainment had also tilted him towards it in the end…the only downside he overlooked would be his uttermost downfall.

_He couldn't see; he couldn't move; the pain and mass of error messages through his processor made his whole frame shudder…_

_Why was it cold? Isn't the Pit supposed to be more….aflame?_

_He could hear movement, and then the immediate shriek of a drill being turned on at high speed. Something within his spark pulsed in a way he hadn't felt in such a long time…he knew where he was, and Barricade just _knew_ he was now part of something called-_

_**The Harvest Project.**_

_**

* * *

**_

He had tried locking away the memories; hiding them in the darkest place of his processor. With a vengeance they would always come back, taunting him and snatching away whatever recharge he could barely muster. It was beginning to take a toll on his systems; his old wounds hidden deep within his armor would suddenly flare up false errors of pain being inflicted everywhere.

"_I'm going to ask you a few questions, Decepticon." a feminine voice echoed throughout the room over the deafening sound. Barricade's silent prayers halted as he pinned the voice to a face…one of the two humans even Megatron would never want to go against one on one in the battlefield._

"_And I'm only going to ask them once. You give me info, you lose an inch; you give me silence, you lose a foot; you become uncooperative, and I'll etch your spark casing 'till you deactivate…then we'll bring Sam in here."_

_Whatever sick games Mikaela Witwicky would come up with were one of the many reasons most of his 'comrades' would rather go against Optimus Prime himself._

_His self-preservation kicked in. Barricade had heard many stories of captured Decepticons being subjected to a very slow and painful death at the hands of this very human, her sick and twisted expertise earning her a 95% success rate in interrogation alongside her mate. The remaining 5% managed to end their own misery by extinguishing their sparks._

_A human with the tools to strip down a mech to nothing but wires and still have them alive; a human with the knowledge (given to him by the AllSpark itself) to break through firewalls in the most brutal way that even Soundwave would _cringe_ at the sheer mention…._

_How the Autobots approved of such methods was a very touchy subject and no one seemed to be willing to really stop them._

_After all, why stop something that had been so effective?_

It was a miracle itself that he had survived nearly 5 months in her hands with his armor being stripped away bit by bit, only to be replaced with flimsy earth metal until it integrated into his own. Then it would be ripped again and then replaced. Barricade was so very thankful that she had gone against calling in her mate for assistance; the 'Con was obedient, even….

That alone _still_ wasn't enough to end his suffering. His nightmares made his vulnerability even more humiliating than the thought itself.

_His vocaliser shrieked out a noise even _he_ couldn't recognize as the femme began drilling holes into her armor with each question she asked, all while keeping attention on his system readings that scrolled by on a nearby computer screen._

_When had he been hooked up to _that_? It wasn't there…how long has it been?_

_There was nothing he could do…it had been months; his 'comrades' have probably already forgotten about him. How was he even still alive? Why wouldn't they let it all be over with already? They've already done so much to him, despite the treasure trove of information he had given them on a golden platter coated in his own energon. Even now, the questions she had been asking sounded as if they were there to satisfy her own curiosity. The wounds she inflicted…oh dear sweet Primus. He wished his spark would wither away…_

_His arm had been shredded and the elbow joint shattered. The metal all over his body was no longer the sleek black and white coloring he had adorned proudly before; splotches of dead, grey Earth metals beginning to integrate and change into Cybertronian through his nanites made his whole body spasm with each minute. The audio sensor arrays he had once had were laying on a workbench somewhere around his right hip, buzzing ever so slightly._

_Another sound, this time a screech made him shudder as another hole was drilled. Now the human was standing on the fully black, completely integrated metal piece just inches away from his worn spark casing._

_Oh no…_

_He tried to brace his systems as Mikaela kneeled toward the edge of the metal sheet. The holes she drilled formed a straight line….perforated metal lines made everything so much easier._

"_One more question."_

_Oh __**no**__…_

"_If I gave you a chance at freedom, with some limitation, how far would you be willing to go?"_

_That question, of course, through his processor for a loop. A chance at freedom? What _kind_ of freedom? Limitation? Freedom?_

"_I-zGRRkk-" Barricade physically flinched as his vocaliser fritzed from his confusion. _

_The femme chuckled and gripped the corner of the metal sheet, bracing her foot against his chest. He panicked._

"_I Do-eeeeeeer-n't un-dadadada-stan-erzzzzz-d…" He ground out. The supposed blessing he had asked for must be a trap of some kind. Maybe she was going to finally call her mate in to finish him? Turn him into a drone? Possibly even reformat him? Enslave his and continue to use him for metal harvesting?_

_And then he felt it…_

_The gentle caress of her fingers loosening their grip and running smoothly over the jagged, converging metal was enough to make whatever meager energon within his systems to run cold._

"_My oldest daughter needs someone to look after her. Bumblebee's been pushed away, and she refuses to let him into her life. I would ask Sideswipe since he likes her company so much, but he's a little too reckless, and every one else has their hands full…."_

_Something in his systems buzzed the definition of 'babysitting' at him. _

"_It's so simple, really. Precautions will be put into place, but my little girl needs a Guardian. Say yes, and Ratchet will be brought in to fix you up and modify a few things. Say no, and Optimus has given Sam permission to hack you. Whatever lifeless shell left will be scrapped for parts and melted down for building supplies."_

_Barricade's reply of 'yes' was the last word that shorted out his over-taxed vocaliser. _

_Mikaela sighed before re-gripped the metal sheet._

"_Good. Just know that if anything happens to her, whatever pain you feel from this will be a walk in the park compared to what I'm going to do to you…."_

_And she ripped it clean off…_

_

* * *

_

Barricade awoke with a start, his wheels leaving the ground a few good inches as his seriously overheated systems snapped his fans on to cool down. Another nightmare had his spark pulsing, aching even; the fear had felt so _real_; the pain could be _felt_; her hands ripping sensitive wires could still be _felt_.

He tried to calm himself. She was gone now; dead. He was inside the garage…no cold air could get to him. This was _his_ place, his home…he was safe where he was.

"B-Barricade?"

The Ex-Con cursed silently within his thoughts as Zackery's small form stumbled through the dark in his direction. The salty smell of the air made it apparent that she had been crying and now unable to sleep.

This was new…

"What are you doing up? You should be recharging." He grumped, still trying to trick his systems back into check. _I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm safe…Primus please tell me that's not _me _shaking…_

The child finally found him by walking straight into his trunk area and began stuttering in a hushed voice. "I had another nightmare."

_Another?_

"I-It was worse than the others…I couldn't move! I felt like I couldn't breathe. Mom was there…_she was there_ but I couldn't move! I wanted to help…but she screamed and blamed me for everything going wrong!"

By the end of the explanation, the child had blubbered herself into a sobbing heap. Barricade was astonished; he had no idea she had been having nightmares. The worse thing about it was she had been reliving her mother's death over and over…it was almost the same situation he was in.

Zackery was suffering inside, and it was then that Barricade decided to really _look_ through her situation.

After the murder, the others had tried consoling her. They tried getting her to talk about it, to _tell_ them what she was feeling…her father had given up on raising her since she was nearly identical to his mate and focused all his attention on his youngest creation named Samantha.

They all thought she was suffering, and she bluntly refused to show it or confide anyone, truly believing she had to get through it alone.

Barricade and Zackery were both suffering, only one was far worse than the other, and her openly sobbing and hiccupping form was telling the Ex-Con that she had finally broken; she couldn't take it anymore and he found it time to interfere.

His locks clicked and the rear passenger door swung open, and he was surprised when Zackery nearly lunged inside and curled onto the seat. Her sobs became stifled to mere whines and Barricade's systems thrummed in response.

He didn't really know what to do next…until the child attempted humming to herself.

She wasn't really good at it, so he decided on taking over. His systems began humming into a melody he had heard long was the first memory that flashed through his processor; it was a miracle the file hadn't been deleted, but it seemed to be working as Zackery's whines were silenced as she listened.

"Barricade?" she cut in, the noise throughout the cab dulling out to a mere whisper.

"Yes?"

A short silence as she yawned.

"When will you die?"

Another short silence. Barricade thought to himself, watching his charge stretch out with another yawn.

_She's scared that I will leave her…_

"Many years after you, yourself, have passed away. Now go to sleep youngling; There are things that need to get done early tomorrow morning."

He wanted to assure her with his humming systems that he would never die, _**never**_. It was now his own silent oath he would willingly etch onto his very own spark. No matter whatever force would get in his way, Zackery's life from this night on will be far better than she had ever experienced. She will not have to _ever_ worry about anyone leaving her behind, and she will hopefully grow to live a normal life once again.

It wasn't until the next day that Zackery and Barricade finally remembered what it felt like to have a peaceful and uninterrupted sleep.

* * *

Barricade may seem a little out of character, but think about this for a second. The poor mech had been at Mikaela's mercy for 6 months, and has only enjoyed his newfound freedom for nearly 3 months. The kind of torture he had gone through…do you honestly think he's going to immediately jump back into being himself so soon? Especially never having to care for a human child until now?

I would be out of character, if I were him. I would be afraid that the 'Warrior Goddess' would go all zombie and nom on me for not making sure her kid was happy.

Dead gawd, save us all from this insanity.

_Answers to review/pm questions would go here, along with some smart ass side comments from my backseat laptop creepo kitty. My friend said that if he could talk, my cat would have a Russian Accent._

_Please review if you like! Night everyone._


	3. Miracle Drug

So…I was just sitting at work, typing and stuff, when this idea struck me…like lightning! I remembered reading a few fanfictions where Ratchet had this special…shot he would give people that would magically make everything better and heal all of their broken bones and stuff, and they would experience the side effect of…sleeping for a week.

But then, I stopped what I was doing to _think_ for a moment. (Insert gasp of shock here)

What would happen if…if…IF!

I apologize in advance. I can't really explain it, but I know what I must do! Tally-ho the crackiness!

_**Summary: **__After a prank gone awry, Zackery is left in the capable hands of our favorite CMO. Oh, this is going to be _fun_._

_Complete and utter insanity on my part, ignore my twitchy-ness if you please _

_**Warnings: **__Nothing like drug-induced stupidity and mellow smart-assery to start your day._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own the plot and Zackery…so yes, all of her issues are my fault. I can only laugh._

**The Miracle Drug

* * *

**

"So…I see Skids and Mudflap have exacted their revenge on you for the frozen paintball incident…."

Zackery Witwicky, 22 years old and _very_ pissed off, glared in return while crossing her arms. Her current position was quite entertaining and Jolt had to prevent himself from poking the femme just to watch her swing back in forth. The grin stuck on his faceplates, however, was a different story.

There had been a call from one of the soldiers saying they had witnessed the smaller set of twins racing off, cackling in glee, and went to investigate the situation (seriously, who _wouldn't_?). Apparently they had somehow managed to reach the ceiling panel Zackery was currently hanging from, upside down with a bungee cord. The blue mech was quite shocked at first when he had turned the corner. Not only was she hung high enough to come up to his _chasis_ but only her right leg seemed to be holding her there while the left seemed loosely wrapped. If it hadn't been for her bandana, he might have actually run _into_ her and caused some serious damage.

Jolt also realized how lucky he was to have gotten there before Ratchet did. Primus only knows how irate the medic had been as of late…

He was in no mood to witness how creative a 'Crankier-Than-Normal' Ratchet could be in a room full of potential weapons that were seemingly always within arms reach, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her….if only a _little_.

"As much as I love the view, I'd very much appreciate to have my feet back on the floor, _thank you_." The unfortunate victim ground out between clenched teeth. "If Pops sees me like this, I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

"You're supposed to be on bed rest…aren't you?"

A quiet huff and sharp turn of the nose confirmed the assumption. Now Jolt feared the worse had yet to come, his grin slowly withering away…one of Ratchet's patients? Avoiding bed rest?

The perfect formula for suicide was in motion.

"And you're worried about Barricade finding out? What about Ratchet?" He inquired with a slight tilt of the helm. It was always good entertainment to listen to the Witwicky sisters' explanations. They were quite uncanny and many mechs have warned Prowl to avoid these explanations unless the younger sibling was there…the blue mech counted at least 15 times within the past year where Prowl had his logic circuits completely freeze on him, but those incidents were either unintentional on his part or _very_ intentional on Zackery's part. It was really a 50/50 chance when Prowl and Zackery were in the same room...

"Me? Worried? Are you _nuts_? I think the term 'scared of being mauled by gigantic robot nanny-medic' is far more fitting, don't you think? It's not even my fault! I swear!" She ranted, her body now idly swinging back and forth.

"I was just looking for Pops since I couldn't sleep, and then Mudflap came out of nowhere and knocked me out! I'm _not_ a happy camper, here! If my giant robot nanny found out I was wandering, I'm fu-"

"I assure you that I am no _nanny_, Zackery." A voice sharply cut her off. A very, _very_ angry sounding voice that seemed to make the metallic walls ring in an evil sort of way…Jolt's frame cringed as he stepped aside for Ratchet to get to the woman. Things were going to get ugly, if the medic's revving engine, growling vocaliser and pinched facial plates were anything to go by.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Zackery chirped a little too happily.

"Oh-ho, dear child, my thoughts are free seeing as they're about to become a _**reality**_ as soon as you explain to me _**why**_you are outside of the Medical Ward against my orders?"

If there is anything more frightening than Ratchet on the fritz, it was when he used the tone of voice he was using now. A certain tone that made your self preservation scream 'DANGER! RUN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!'. The Witwicky child either hadn't realized this by now, she stopped caring altogether, or she never really had that little voice that knew better than to mess with the CMO.

Jolt could only stand by and watch as Ratchet crossed his arms over his chasis and _glowered_ at the woman before him.

"It wasn't my fault, please forgive me?" Zackery then whimpered, finally catching the situation. She began to twiddle her thumbs and avoid Ratchet's gaze until he snapped at her again.

"Zackery. Explanation. _**Now**_."

"It was the midgets! I swear!" She whined. Ratchet does _not_ like whiney voices.

"It's not my fault this time! In no way shape or form should I be in trouble! I've been upside-down for _ten_ minutes and I'm starting to get dizzy! Get me down, Ratchet!"

"What's this I hear? Are you _demanding_ me to do something, child?"

_Uh-oh…_

"Uhm…if I said I loved you with all my heart, would you forgive me?"

It took all of Jolt's will power to prevent himself from doing what the humans called a 'face-palm'.

"And if _I_ said nothing will prevent me from stripping you of all your privileges and base clearance before taping your aft to a bed?"

"I would say I'll do anything to make it up to you?"

Zackery immediately wished she could take back her words when Ratchet's faceplates suddenly curled into the most evil smirk the medic has ever created. She privately swore, thinking that only Megatron was capable of such an evil and foreboding look as Ratchet snipped away at the bungee cord and caught her. He then motioned towards Jolt who then proceeded down the direction of the medbay, muttering in glee before following.

"_Now_ you're sounding reasonable."

* * *

Samantha Witwicky, 19 years old, stood at the edge of the berth she had been placed on and _stared_ as Ratchet trudged into the medbay with her older sister in tow. "What'd she do _now_?" She asked, earning the middle finger from Zackery.

"Shove it or save it, Sam." She growled, yelling out and indignant 'Hey!' when the medic dropped her the last 5 feet onto another berth. Zackery did not dare to speak up about it, though. If Ratchet's eerie temperament were to worsen, she would find herself on the receiving end of one hell of a rant that usually consisted of promises to physically maim someone with a rusted chainsaw.

Not a pretty conversation, mind you.

"Your sister has actually has just volunteered herself to be my test subject." Ratchet's fake and cheery 'I'm-going-to-have-fun-poking-your-insides' voice rumbled as he stepped away and began digging through a few drawers. It took only a moment before he then pulled out what looked like a Cybertronian-sized Petri dish with a thick brown liquid sloshing around.

Samantha suddenly paled; Zackery only blinked.

"Isn't that the stuff you used to fix Sam's arm?" The oldest wondered out loud. Her sister faintly shook her head and gulped as one of the medic's hands suddenly exploded into an impressive array of medical tools.

From experience, Samantha dared to not tell her sister that Ratchet had been tweaking the vile, metallic tasting liquid he was now placing into a syringe. Optimus had specifically ordered that the supposed 'miracle drug' be used only in emergencies since the horrible side effects usually last a good week or so, and the cost to make just an _ounce_ of the liquid would take away three years of her and her sisters' salary _combined_. After Samantha willingly volunteered to test the first batch after accidentally breaking her arm, she vowed never to do it again, even if he offered to pay her for the time off she would need!

Tweaked or not, Samantha wouldn't even give the stuff to a Decepticon P.O.W.

And Ratchet seemed to have loaded a hefty amount into his chosen tool; her poor older sibling was completely oblivious to the horror that awaited her.

"Uhm, Ratchet?"

"Hm?"

"You're…not going to _seriously_ use that stuff, right? I mean…it took you a while to save the money to even make that much! And you're going to use _half_?"

There was a slight tilt of the helm and a loud hum of his engine as he supposedly pondered the current situation. It _did_ take him about a year to successfully tweak this batch….let alone come up with the money for materials and time he spent on it.

Did he honestly care, though?

"I'm sure it won't be too hard to come up with the funds, seeing as your sister is far more than willing to help pay for the dosage she is about to consume."

"No way in _hell_ am I swallowing that stuff or even paying for it!" The eldest snapped, already looking for an escape route. "You must have a glitch or something, nanny-bot!"

Samantha watched in utter horror as Ratchet made a lunge for her sister, who didn't seem to want to go down without a fight as she twisted just out of his reach and made a leap of un-faith off the side of the berth. The poor girl stood no chance as the medic quickly caught her.

The youngest sibling actually had to force herself to look away as the medic began wrestling with the woman who, in turn, was struggling to get away.

"Either accept this as punishment or live the rest of your life in the Pit!"

"As if I wasn't already? Get that thing away from me, you Physco Nanny-Bot!"

Today was _**not**_ going to end well…

* * *

One of his optic ridges immediately hitched upwards when the medic presented his ward to him…or what Barricade _thought_ was his ward.

"The Pit did you do with my charge?" He asked, glancing at the medic.

"Why, it's Zackery, of course." The medic said gleefully. "It's just a small side-effect to some medication I gave her, no worries. She'll be fine within the next few hours. Go on, take her and get out of my MedBay!"

The Ex-Con just stared at whatever it was the medic was trying to shove into his servo.

This…_thing_ could **not** be Zackery, in any way shape or form. _ITs_ expression seemed slow, _ITs_ posture was too relaxed; _IT_ just would not stop **giggling** at him. _Its_ pupils were also dilated and sort of foggy...

He shot a questioning glance towards the younger sibling, who just shrugged and went back to sorting through the metal fragments around her. "It's Zackery, don't worry. She's just a little…happy is all."

_Happy?_

Barricade looked back down at the _thing_.

"Femme?"

The _thing_ giggled more before leaning backwards to look up at him, only to fall flat on her back. Ratchet adjusted himself to accommodate.

"Heeey Pops!" Came a chirped (and…slurred?) reply as the _thing_ attempted to regain whatever non-existent balance it had had before.

"What did he _do_ to you?"

"Nuffin, muffin…" Another giggle fit. "I waaaant this stuffz for go. I freel…so damn _awe_some. Did I…et like sum…_awe_some sauce?"

Barricade shot a glare at the CMO before carefully picking up the _thing_. "She can't even speak properly! What in the Pit did you give her?" Oh, he _so_ wanted to beat that look off of Ratchet's face…with a rusted sheet of jagged Earth metal.

Who did he think he was, giving her 'medication' that made her vulnerable and…_**high**_?

"It's a mixture I came up with to counteract the effects of her…" A short glance to his right confirmed Samantha wasn't paying attention. Or pretending not to.

"Her handicap."

Only a half truth, but it would do for now.

The Ex-Con glanced down at his charge, who was now occupying herself by singing (_can that even be called singing?_) and waving her hands around in circles. "Me be a toaster~, Me be a toaster~ Ratchet's good at making toasters~!" Whatever the medic gave her had _**seriously**_ messed her up.

"It's only a test batch, so it isn't as…potent as the end product is going to be."

"And what if it doesn't work? Please tell me this reaction isn't _permanent_, because if it is, we're going to have a serious problem here, _**medic**_."

"Then your audios must be glitching since I have already said that the effects are temporary. The only unpredictable variable here is the side effect."

Something about this whole situation made Barricade very uneasy as Zackery went from giggling, to humming, to downright _screeching_ whatever Primus-forbidden song she created. There had been no warning to the CMO's message saying that Zackery needed to be picked up, and he had just dropped her off the previous week on Ratchet's orders of bed rest.

The Hatchet does _not_ like his patients overworking themselves.

And when he arrived, she had been whirling around in circles and yelling something about making a tornado before Ratchet picked her up and presented her.

"You want me to take her back to the states in _this_ condition?"

"Are you fore-seeing any Decepticon attacks we are unaware of in the immediate future?"

With that, the conversation was forcibly ended as Ratchet turned to assist Samantha with sorting metal. Zackery stopped whatever she was doing and gave Barricade the toothiest grin he had ever seen on a human.

"I can freel mah braaaain! The zombie can, too!" and stated as proudly as she could before proceeding to poke her cranium.

The Ex-Con cycled a bit of air in a sigh before leaving.

* * *

Not even six hours later, Ratchet received an emergency comm. link communication from Barricade.

**.: **_**MEDIC**_**!:.**

Oh, the processor ache he was going to get in the morning…

**.: Calm yourself, Barricade. What is the problem?:.**

**.: The femme is having a negative reaction to the medication **_**you**_** gave her! She can't even eat without it coming back up! :.**

There was a moment of tense silence before Ratchet's system hummed.

**.: I believe I forgot to mention that the mixture contained a substantial amount of nanites. It's nothing **_**too**_** harmful. Right now her body is attempting to expel the now non-functional nanites I had her ingest. Had they been inject to her system through her bloodstream, she would be having a far more serious reaction:.**

**.: **_**YOU HAD HER INGEST NANITES?:.**_

**.: She. Will. Be. **_**FINE**_**, Barricade. Make sure she drinks plenty of water and gets plenty of rest. If she asks any questions, then just tell her that if she ever disobeys one of my orders again, I'll make her ingest **_**more**_**. Do you understand?:.**

**.: If you **_**knew**_** this was going to happen then why did you give her the medication?:.**

**.: If ingesting nanites is all it takes to keep her in my medbay for even a **_**week**_** then I will, by all means, do it again.**

Before the Ex-Con could yell any further, Ratchet cut off the communication before preparing his systems to re-enter recharge.

The day just ended as well as he had planned.

* * *

For this chapter, I really don't care if anyone is OOC. X3 I mean, this idea came to me on a whim! Boredom! Entertainment!

No, not really, hehe. This chapter wasn't really well thought out, but if I didn't type it up _soon_ I was going to go insane. I'm still trying to work on the chapter with Sunstreaker, but not only is it looking to be a two-parter, but it's really hard keeping Sunstreaker in character!

Anyone want me to do a different mech? I _could_ attempt Prowl…NO I'd kill myself! Dx A list of bots available would be…uhm…Bluestreak, The Midget Twins, Wheeljack, _maybe_ Ratchet, Sideswipe, another Barricade shorty, and Optimus. Or maybe interacting with some of the N.E.S.T personnel? I don't know v.v; I'm all open for whatever you guys want to say. These little snippets get me in the writing mood to get the original story edited….

_**Kiren: **__I knooow and I'm sorry! I feel like such a half-asser now! TvT Hopefully in the near future it won't happen again. X3_

_**FlamingBitch1408: **__I'm so happy you reviewed! Thank you! I'll do my best from now on!_

_And I might have something special posted on Christmas…keyword being _might_._


	4. Wear My Shoes, Not My Nerves

I'm so bored yet happy. Got 1 review and 3 other people subscribed to this…whatever it is! As long as I get one review per chapter, I'm cool. I'd be sad if I had like..10 chapter but only 6 reviews Dx

Current snippet was inspired by my sister who is in Parris Islands for boot camp. xD Apparently, she believes Zackery has some sort of underlying grudge against Samantha, who is innocently oblivious. I'd like to correct her with this chappie! Owo It's going to be hard typing this, argh! There's a reason for everything, but some reasons I can't quite tell you. I don't even have that part of the original story typed up, yet! Dx

I won't update another chapter here until next month, _**BUT**_, if you keep a careful eye out, Supervisor From Hell will be uploaded before then….the first chapter, anyways. O.o

_**Summary:**__ Samantha rises to defend her older sister's name once again. But who is really defending who?_

_**Warnings:**__ Cursing and insinuation. I think that's about it._

_**Disclaimers:**__ I own nothing, but if I did, Megatron would be more of an idiot than he already is, and everyone would have learned by now to ignore Starscream. Believe me, it would save us all a few brain cells._

**Wear My Shoes, Not My Nerves**_

* * *

_

Samantha was aware of the small rumors that were beginning to go around about her older sibling started after Zackery mentioned her _extreme_ dislike of staying in the underground base; she had opted to have her room and workspace moved to the top level away from public company and prying eyes.

Some rumors were too small to be cared about, but the biggest one by far had the youngest striding through the base in pure, white-hot fury as she abandoned the meeting hall, leaving some rather smug looking higher-ups.

For those who don't know, the base has only three levels and even rumored to have a fourth hidden away from the humans. The third level being the lowest and so far underground, humans can't travel there unless wearing a special suit to protect them from the heat. That level is where the Autobot quarters are located, along with Wheeljack's lab and the brig.

The second level is where the N.E.S.T personnel are housed, but also contains Ratchet's Medical Bay along with the Simulation Room for practice. Communications and such were in there somewhere, as well. The second level is also below sea level, so some corridors have a beautiful view of the ocean floor, and enough sunlight to be able to see the occasional whale or two swim by.

That last fact also brings up the reason as to why the oldest Witwicky child resides on the very top level of the base; living on the island itself instead of underneath it. She had this fear that if the base were to ever be attacked and one of those corridors suddenly cracked and ruptured (though both Wheeljack _and_ Ratchet have argued otherwise since they are the ones who _made_ them) and suddenly flood the base and everyone would drown.

Samantha had never really _told _anyone that Zackery had a fear of drowning…hell; she had to figure it out herself!

"I'd rather throw myself in front of Megatron and either be taken prisoner or stepped on." The oldest has stated rather proudly, despite being scolded by both Barricade and Bumblebee immediately afterwards.

Samantha huffed slightly as she keyed in the access code to the elevator and stepped inside.

They were _both_ targets in this millennia old galactic war, but after the Decepticons had managed to get a hold of Zackery and murdered their mother, they had made her the prime target from then on. Yes the upper level of the base was just as armed and protected as the lower, but the youngest child could _not_ stop worrying. What if Megatron himself decided to attack? The top level is what would be hit first! And if Zackery happened to be there, working on whatever it is she does…

"_Until the last carrier is obtained, she will indeed make a fine pet."_

She quickly shook her head at the words; they haunted her since the first time she had ever been abducted. Samantha had never been so scared in her life, nor had she ever been so close to a Decepticon as fierce as Megatron. She was selfishly thankful that Zackery had been captured as well…

Again, she shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. Right now, she had a job to do.

The youngest Witwicky girl exited the elevator and briskly walked towards the hanger that sat behind the runways.

* * *

The human-sized door opened before she could reach the handle; the _whoosh_ of cold air both startled her and made her skin tingle against the hot and humid island air.

"Come on in!" Came a distant yell from inside, and she happily obliged, listening to the weird music that boomed from a fair amount of speakers that lined the ceiling. Samantha had always secretly liked visiting the hanger; not only did her older sibling have a _very_ interesting array of strange trinkets and gifts from random mechs, but the walls and floor were lined with sheets of some sort of black, spiked memory foam. The floor had mostly small spikes that felt really weird when you walked on them, but along the area where floor-met-wall, the 5 foot spikes were very fun to lay or jump on. Right now, though, one of the higher spiked padding patches was mashed beneath a large pile a gray-looking sheet metal while a shadowed and bulky figure occupied another. (Probably a mech; it was hard to see who it was as the lights near that area were dimmed to the lowest setting possible.)

The ceiling had sparse padding; a fire hazard in Samantha's opinion as Zackery had power lines, electrical outlets, random tools and other things hooked up that actually _hanged_ from the ceiling.

_Oh man…if Ratchet ever found out he would _flip_._ She mused, looking around for her older sister. She spotted a blotch of orange in the back where the work benches were and began to head towards it.

It was time to do what she came here to do.

Zackery dimmed the music down before shutting off her visor and removing it; it's a lot easier to look someone in the face if it isn't blocked by large amounts of scrolling text, images, calculations, and a miniature web browser logged in to her e-mail.

She was surprised to see Samantha there.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting, today?" She asked, setting her blank visor on the work bench. _Ah, I should clean up a little…_

Her younger sister looked her up and down before crossing her arms, a sure sign that whatever she came here for seriously irked her. The small silence had an escalating amount of tension, and it worried the eldest slightly.

Samantha usually had that air about her. You know…the one that allowed you to have an infinite amount of patience and a one-hundred percent tolerance rate? That one. She rarely let anything bother her, and if it did, Bumblebee would have personally let Zackery know. This time, however, whatever had irked her younger sibling was enough to make her skip the 'boo-hoo to Bumblebee' entirely.

"Someone accused you of fraud, and then another tried to blame you for stealing government funds…one even insinuated you're stealing money from the Autobots, taking bribes, and even _sexual favours_!"

One of Zackery's eyebrows immediately shot up, her posture not even twitching or showing signs of nervousness that Samantha had been looking for. Instead, she lazily started a sequence of stretching out her arms and legs before resting her hands behind her head and leaning back in the chair.

"That's it? That's what has you so worked up?"

If Samantha hadn't just had her brain freeze to mull over her sister's response, she would have either face floored, smacked her, or face-floored in an attempt to smack her.

"Don't you realize how serious this is? And don't you shrug your shoulders at _me_." She growled, her voice now full-blown irritated and furious. This was _not_ a good time for her sister's care-free attitude! The _U.S. Government_ was accusing her of stealing money and could have her taken away and put her in jail!

"It's not like they have any evidence to back it up. _You're_ the Liaison, here. Isn't it _your _job to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen?"

"It's not an easy job if there are people like _you_ treating it as a joke! You probably _did_ do it, didn't you?"

The flat look Zackery gave her was enough to silence any further argument. Bad idea to say that; very _very_ bad idea to piss off her older sister.

"You can go ahead and say what you want, but if you're stupid and _naïve_ enough to believe those pig-heads, then be my guest. When you get evidence, you know where to find me."

With that, she briskly turned back to her work bench, slipped on her visor, and angrily snapped it on. Just before the booting sequence finished, the visor was pulled off.

Zackery _glared_ and Samantha frowned back.

There were times Samantha noticed little things about her older sister that would give off whatever she was thinking. It was easy since she gets straight to the point and gets done what needs to get done…

Whenever she feels like it, anyways.

Right now, Zackery was very angry but Samantha knew she wouldn't try to out right beat her up or anything. Her older sister would never hurt her, and if the signs were correct…Zackery probably hadn't slept since Wednesday; it was currently Friday.

She also noticed how Zackery kept looking over at the mech that was recharging.

"I've got more important stuff to do here, so either give me something to work with or get out."

"Come with me to help clear your name."

"Hell no. I hate politicians. They're annoying, pig-headed, and stupid."

"Yes, but they'll listen to you, not me!"

"Add **whiney** to that list."

"Uhg, you're _impossible_!" Samantha finally yelled out with balled fists. This argument was getting nowhere. "If you want to go ahead and let them spread these dirty and horrible lies about you, then go ahead! I don't care anymore! Let them take you away!"

She did a brisk about-face and stomped across the hanger. When she made it half-way, however, her brisk stomped faded into a timid halt.

"Everyone is always saying how great of a person you are. Am I still stupid for believing that, as well?"

Zackery immediately switched the low-playing music completely off. "You must've been talking to the wrong people. You should hang out with Ratchet more often. He has a gift of making you all nice and warm inside before throwing up in fear. Did he tell you about the time I gave him a giant pitch-fork for Christmas? That was a kicker."

Samantha wanted to run right back over to her sister and just _hit_ her.

"Can't you _ever_ be serious, even just once? Why don't you try to stop them? You get on everyone else who does it! What's the diff-"

"You went to the meeting alone, didn't you?"

She turned around to see Zackery standing up and brushing something from her baggy jeans onto the floor. Her bandanna had something black streaked on it; her gloves were filthy and left handprints on her pants, and her spaghetti trapped shirt was disheveled and loose.

Probably skipped out on a shower or two; maybe even a few meals…

"They said Bumblebee couldn't come and Optimus was busy. Why does that matter?"

The full blown grin that appeared on her sister's face was unexpected and made her look thoroughly insane.

"I've told you plenty of times to make sure you have a 'Bot with you. Otherwise the 'Government' will swoop in like a bunch of vultures and mess with you until they get their way. They _want_ you to do what you're doing right now, Sam. They _want_ you to do something to mess up. You gotta remember that humans don't **care** about the Autobots- most of them anyways- and it's your job to help Optimus any way you can. Only problem is, you're just too much of a damn goody two-shoes to really fight your way through the throes of the war that is politics...or whatever you wanna call it."

Samantha frowned as Zackery made her way over towards recharging mass near the wall.

She always knew that most of the government had split down the middle when it came to the Autobots. On one half, they are willing to cooperate and live alongside the Autobots peacefully, despite the waning war of factions they brought with them. On the other side, they want weapons, science, _money_ and such before wanting to kick them from the planet without a care in the universe.

But she didn't understand why they would suddenly change tunes and go after _Zackery_. They were always saying something so positive about the older sibling, sometimes about things Samantha didn't know about and had even made her infinitely jealous. One had said Zackery had fought to fend off some Decepticon and was very brave, another had said she was very smart for supporting the continuation of some harvesting project, and the last had admired the hard-headedness that rivaled their father's.

Why, after so long of admiring her would they suddenly just…_hate_ her? Become bitter? They had even gone as far as to not hide their disdain of Samantha being the liaison and not Zackery.

Her sister gave a quick pat on the mech, the large shadowed mass warping and moving into a standing position. Samantha immediately recognized the bright, neon green lining on the outer parts of black armor that belonged to none other than Vox, a mech she seldom knew but saw occasionally around Communications. He was picked on by both sets of twins for having a crush on her sister, had the personality of a gentleman, and never really spoke much unless you asked a lot of questions.

She liked how his door wings twitched when he focused his attention on Zackery as she went over to the work bench, snapped on her visor, and returned to his feet to look him over.

Sometimes, a 'Bot or two would come up to the first level to visit Zackery; whether to drop off a trinket, to get away for a while, find some privacy, or just needed someone to talk to they would go to her. Samantha had even heard from Ironhide that her older sister did minor repairs here and there so whatever mech that had gotten injured could avoid Ratchet's temper.

That last option seemed to be the reason, as Vox's chasis was _covered_ with the dull gray coloring of flexi-steel patches. It did _not_ look pretty on him.

"Sorry if I woke you, but I'm going to head out for a bit. When I get back I'll get the report written up, alright?" Zackery said, adjusting a setting or two on her visor. Vox nodded (_his wings are twitching again!_), and Zackery 'hmmed' before walking over and stopping in front of her sister.

"Time to make the piggies squeal."

_Wait…__**what?**_

"Uh…what?" Samantha asked as Zackery walked by her and towards the door.

"This whole game they're playing is making you upset and bothering my work schedule."

Her visor made a ping noise as the projectors on either side brought up a motion sensitive keyboard image in front of her, and began typing away. Samantha could only watch in fascination as Zackery then spoke out 'Send' and the faint keyboard image disappeared.

"I'm going to make sure they don't bother you anymore, so stop gawking."

* * *

She _hated_ walking so far for something as idiotic as finding yet another way to get the government's leash tightened. The President had a nasty habit of 'looking the other way' on some issues, thus leaving the Autobots out in the open for anyone to try and take down. It was sad, really. Optimus couldn't do anything about it.

"_This is _their_ planet-_" and 'blah-blah-blah'.

_He really needs to get this whole system fuck-up fixed soon! _Zackery thought bitterly, waving at a passing mech with bright yellow and red coloring.

There had been reports of a ship belonging to the Autobots en-route to Earth and were expected to be landing within the next 3 years. It had been wholly hell when the President found out, but Samantha had handled that whole situation before it could get out of hand.

Why she made a big deal about the Government-To-Autobot Liaison accusing Zackery of such minor issues?

_Hell if I ever know…_

The older sibling snuck a quick glance at her sister, her skin discolored by the light of the web browser and e-mail messages she had flying across the screen.

Samantha was looking back.

"You look like you got something on your mind." Zackery rummaged through her baggy pockets before pulling out an oil covered coin. "Penny for your thoughts?"

They walked a few steps in silence, Samantha giving her sister the most perplexed of looks before (cautiously?) taking the currency and wiping it clean with her thumbs and handing it back.

"It's just…a lot of questions I've been meaning to ask you, but I didn't know how. Can I ask them now and get them off my back? They never really bothered me…until now, at least."

_That grin again…_

"Stingy, aren't ya? Alright, shoot. We've still got a good 10 minutes of walking, and I've got a jingle around here _somewhere_..."

Samantha couldn't help but let out a chuckle. This was a good start, and whatever was bothering her weighed on her chest enough to hurt; she couldn't wait to get rid of it and be able to be a little closer to her estranged sister. They were already close, but there was still…a wall. She felt it crumbling little by little, but it was still there, and it was bothersome. What secrets did her sister keep that caused her to create such a terribly thick barrier?

_Start out easy…_She had to think for a second. Samantha definitely did _not_ need a question that would start Zackery out with her one of her legendary…'explanations' that even had _Prowl_ on edge.

"I heard once you fought a Decepticon to buy time for retreating soldiers. You never told me you've gone out to battle before…did you really fight a Decepticon? Was it scary? How come you're not out fighting anymore?"

One heavy weight lifted; it was easier to breathe now that it was out. She always felt her questions were a little childish, and childish is just _not_ allowed in her job description.

Zackery's full blown guffaw, however, made her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"I shot Blackout in the eye –on _accident_, mind you- and he flipped; I've never seen a Decepticon so _openly_ dedicated to giving a show while trying to step on a human."

It was Samantha's turn to laugh.

"I wasn't really _supposed_ to be out there; Wheeljack had wanted to test _this_ baby-" she took a second to tap her visor. "-in a battlefield situation. It's a pretty damn cool 'monitor' that game freaks use nowadays. Wheeljack messed with it when I gave him the idea, hence the motion sensitive keyboard I used earlier, some pretty snazzy programs that calculate times, distances, and even scan minor injuries! Only downside is that it can't really _store_ files and such, like a computer. As long as I can check my e-mail, I could care less. It's pretty snazzy..."

"Wheeljack wanted to see any possibilities that it could be used in our favor against the 'Cons, and I volunteered; _big_ mistake. I ended up stuck between the ground and being squished by a giant metal hand, so I grabbed my handgun and blindly shot upwards. Got that bastard _right_ in the eye."

Samantha made several attempts to calm her laughter. So she had never even really _fought_ in a battlefield. It was surprising, to say the least. Zackery seemed like the type of person who would make a good soldier and give her enemies hell if she went down fighting.

"Was it scary? Yeah it was. I cried for _days_ and stayed in my room until Pops forced me out. Whoever told you I 'fended off a Decepticon' had a _serious_ miscommunication."

She never knew smiles could really _hurt_ after a few minutes, but she couldn't help it! Quickly checking their whereabouts, she estimated another 5 minutes before they reached the meeting room.

"Did you _really_ give Ratchet a pitch-fork for Christmas?"

"You bet your ass I did. Skids and Mudflap gave me the idea! It took a long time to make without him finding out, too! First I had to sneak the measurements without him noticing the scan…"

* * *

**Aaaand….stop! Note immediately that this snippet is a two-parter! I had a LOT of trouble trying to write out 'Politician' speak or whatever it is, and I just can't do it. So I scrapped the other half of this chapter and decided to re-write it how I wanted, and not how it should be.**

It's really hard Dx But I feel really proud about this snippet.

_**21Jellybeans:**__ You'll just have to wait and see! ;p I have another 3 snippets in the making, one of them inspired by your comment. Do I have to ask for permission for something like that, btw? O.o Thanks for the review!_

_I will be back in like...a week after my brain reboots.  
_


	5. I Am Vox

Oh my goodness, you guys are going to hate me. See, we're moving! My work place is, anyways. Hence my issue with not being able to get caught up. But alas! A filler has appeared! And it only took me 3 hours to type!

I'm going to bed now; I'm sore, and exhausted, and the actual MOVING doesn't even start until tomorrow.

We spent the whole week packing Dx By the way, here's the order I'm trying to work on (and failing) they're kinda just…there for now. Q&A is actually for you guys. Ask anything and request which character you want to respond. 'Anything' _MEANS_ anything. However, asking Sunstreaker why the sky is blue will get me killed…I own his toy and he is **not** happeh about it.

Vox gets his own chappie xD

Zackery gets to kick the governments' ego!

Sunstreaker's first week on Earth!

Prowl Vs. Zackery: Round One

Mad or Insane: Which is Which?

Ratchet And Zackery, The Aftermath Of Miracle Drug

Father and Daughters: Oh _Fuck, _She Has a **Gun**!

*Press Conference: Let The Fans Speak! (Audience Q&A)

Samantha and Bumblebee: "I am the cutest Guardian, Hands down!"

Frozen Paintball Incident

Optimus Can Lose His Temper TOO, Ya Know.

Ironhide Is NOT Fluffy! Dx

A Decepticon In Disguise?

Wheeljack Confetti?

Oh You Seeker, You!

The Blackout Incident

Poke

Barricade Hates Boyfriends

Avoiding Ratchet Is An ART.

New Recruits: Weeding Out The DumDums

And there ya have it! Those are all the chapters I have planned for everyone! More will be added AFTER I finish 'Supervisor From Hell'. Hell…I need to get that first chapter up! Dx *begins typing with bloody fingers* I'll try to have it up Saturday! My sister comes home at 12 AM from boot camp graduation, and she'll be sleeping Saturday!

By the way, I don't care if I end up writing a 13,000 word document, every question will be answered; Sunstreaker be damned, even if he probably already was beforehand. Just leave them in a review or PM them!

_**Summary:**__ Someone messaged me and asked for a Vox POV. I warn now that I am not good at this, but they _really_ wanted to know my OC mech's thoughts on Zackery…so here it is._

_**Warnings: (**__Rabid readers trying to strangle me for the sleazy filler!)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I'm…poor. That is all._

**I Am Vox

* * *

**

_There were many days I would find myself perplexed by the human species. From their easily damaged bodies to their lust for destroying each other, I'm always learning something new from them._

_I don't understand many things about them, though. Things like the difference of races, religions, and how one area of land can be far deeper into poverty than it's brother who lays merely a mile away. I do find myself enjoying the different languages, too. Each one is so unique and very impressive than the basic Cybertronian one our species speaks in moments of privacy when near humans._

_The most interesting humans of all, however, are the ones I interact with as often as I can._

_First one being a male who goes by the name Noel, one of the higher officers that helps run Communications on Level Two. I met him while exploring the base on my first day on Earth. I'll be honest and say I hadn't really liked the planet when I first landed; humans were _everywhere_ and making my proximity sensors constantly ring. Noel had been quite patient with me in listening to my small rant during our conversation. He is a great listener, and an even better teacher! He is the one who got me started in a career with music. It pays well, and quite a few humans enjoy my tunes._

_There is also a femme named Annabelle. She is actually the offspring of retired Liaison William Lennox who usually visits Ironhide every now and then. I've never met her father, but the stories both she and Ironhide tell of his bravery in the battlefield are quite intriguing; once they start I can never stop listening (She also claims to be a fan of my music). The only downside to her visits is that she does not get along well with Sideswipe or Sunstreaker; their verbal wars have always had negative effects when Ironhide got wind, but they never stopped. For whatever reason, I don't know. I had thought of asking about it, but if they haven't told me, then is it really my business?_

_Another femme I actually don't really speak to all that much is a youngling named Samantha Witwicky, offspring of Samuel James Witwicky. She is the current Human Liaison (impressively started at the age of 17, too!) and can often be found running around looking for a certain Prime that likes to avoid paperwork. I've only seen her here and there a few times and only spoken to her on a few occasions, but an intelligent child she is! I will admit to her putting a part of my processor to shame…_

_The only human I would truly seek out for company, however, is actually Samantha's older sister. The femme's name is Zackery Witwicky; current Harvest Project over-seer and handles the supply flow. She also manages a few websites the Autobot's had set up to enable Earth's human race to communicate with them one way or another. While managing to move constantly back and forth from the States to her well built hangar on the first level is amazingly flawless and it showed in her work; she also has horrible luck, since she is Ratchet's weekly target when it comes to overworking and such…_

_But I don't care, for she is the femme that has gained my never-ending admiration._

_I am not ashamed of my deemed…'crush' (as the twins had put it) and when I had first come to realize my feelings I had actually been ashamed at first. Bringing up the issue to Ratchet felt right, compared to anyone else (and certainly not another human!)._

"_Go for it." He had told me while running the usual maintenance on my sensory panels. "The worst reaction you can get is a restraining order, trust me. Lift at a 45 degree angle."_

_And I had taken his advice and explained everything to the femme. I was horribly nervous, since I really tried not to speak out unless needed, and kept having to pause mid-sentence to gain my bearings. I couldn't help but notice how silent she was while I spoke and I was worried. Just like her sister, I've only seen her from afar: I could only imagine what she was thinking at the moment. _

_I was so worried about her response I could never even get the rest of what I wanted to say out. My spark had never felt so…tight, before. I was downright embarrassed._

_So I tried to walk away._

_Well…'tried' being the keyword._

"_Vox…was it?" She had asked while tapping her chin. "Anyone ever tell you you're a good poet? You're quite the romantic."_

_The only other time I had been so happy in my life was when I was accepted into the Autobot ranks…and to be quite honest, this was _better_ than that. Zackery had accepted my feelings, though she was cautious (and still is, actually) about the whole 'inter-species' relationship idea, but who am I to care? Even if she hadn't accepted my feelings to begin with, it wouldn't have changed anything. I would have still admired her from afar…it's really not needed now, since not only does the entire base know and surprisingly leave it at that, but we've also gotten quite closer._

_I'm very happy just to even be in the same room with her, and I visit her whenever I can on the top level (weather permitting). Only just recently has she been returning my admiration with feelings of her own. You wouldn't know unless you looked… _

_Either through a small pat on my armor, that rare smile she's only shared with her Guardian once or twice, allowing me to recharge in the hangar a bit longer than everyone else, or that amazing laugh she lets out whenever I let her examine my sensory panels…_

_I even introduced her to my music and it is now the only thing she ever listens to while working. It's her own way of forcing me to continue on making music, and I'm more than happy to oblige. _

_Prowl is always commenting on her short life span and how her luck will be her end…I don't care at all, and she will agree with what I am saying right now. Even if I may outlive her lifespan, I will always enjoy the little memories we have._

_(Zackery is always telling Prowl to stop looking so far ahead in the future or he might never appreciate the present…hehe.)_

_I know for a fact that within the next year or so, I will have saved enough money to get that holo-emitter upgrade only a few other bots have; you know…the one that lets you make a human version of yourself? It has given the others a whole new perspective of things, and I want to give it a try…would I be selfish, though, if I said I was doing it for Zackery?_

_Don't tell her, though. It needs to be a surprise._

_That is all I can really put here…for now._

_I am a scout with an experimental design and also a donor to the Harvesting Project, along with being a famous DJ. Currently under the command of Optimus Prime and soon-to-be apprentice to Blaster once he is Earthbound in 4 years. (Primus help me)._

_I am also the only mech who is currently in a relationship with a human, however estranged it may be._

_My name is Vox, and I'm very proud to call this planet home and to finally have something to fight for, since the Decepticons have managed to destroy everything else._

_I dare them to try it, now._

_

* * *

_

***Dodges random debris thrown by readers*** **I know I'm evil, but I had to get **_**something**_** out so you wouldn't get mad at me for not updating, right! And I even gave you a list of what's to come! Dx Don't hurt me!**

Btw, this is my first time doing a POV thing…I don't feel really proud about the chapter, TBH.

I'm going to bed. Oh fuck, forgot to do review responses! See what being nervous does to me? Dx

_**21Jellybeans:**__ I added it to my list! Owo And that's so nice of you to say! Thanks so much; you're awesome! -glomp-_

_**Forever Dreaming Grace:**__ I added the paintball incident to the list after you brought it up for ya. As for everything else…_

_Q1: I added a chapter on there, but don't expect it to be all huggles and cuddles (hinthint)._

_Q2: Sam tolerates Barricade and when Mikhaela (sp? O.o) actually brought up the idea to use the 'Con, he was against it…until she was killed. He immediately embraced the idea after that and basically left them both on their own while taking Samantha to the Autobots. Can't say anymore than that ;p_

_Q3: Oh dear Gawds, woman…you are EVIL. But it's been added, anyways._

_Q4: Honestly, I don't know whether I should ressurect him or not, It's a little _too_ cliché, yannow? I'm still trying to figure it out. And thankies for your review! I'll try to make sure I can handle it in the next chapter o.o; I'm kind of scared now…_

Bed. Now. Please? Dx


	6. Round 1: A Draw?

I'm so excited! But that doesn't mean my current brain functionality is good enough!

I'm surprised I even used such a big word.

Anyways, uhm…wow I'm so out of it, I lost track of thought. Erm…AH! Just as I promised! Part two is here. If you haven't noticed by now….if I tell you I'm going to have another chapter up by a certain day, don't believe me! xD

By the way, I'm working on getting the first chapter of another side story (one with an actual plot) up…

I wonder if this headache is actually a caffeine headache….is there any way to tell?

_**Summary:**__ Zackery Vs. Government! No hitting below the ankle, please! I smell blood-uh-pumpin!_

_**Warnings:**__ Same as the last chapter, but add a dash of overly-used stupidity, a pissy Vox and some _very_ angry Mini-Twins._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I _can't_ own Transformers. Hasbro is frightened of what I might do if I ever got a-hold of that copyright information!_

**Round 1: FIGHT!

* * *

**

Samantha had tried her best to tell Zackery in a nice way that she would rather stand outside the door with Bumblebee.

Oh _no_, the oldest was having _none_ of that. "You gotta see what happens when you don't have back-up!" She growled, dragging the youngest with a dirtied glove.

And now, as she stood in the large meeting room that lavished a 15 foot oval black table and brightly lit screens that lined the walls, the youngest felt her legs trembled slightly. Yes, Zackery was now here, but the looks that the enlarged faces on the walls now boasted went from all sorts of confused to _very_ upset.

_Looks like their little victory just turned into a defeat. _Zackery mused to herself, switching off her visor and setting it on the edge of the table.

"Gentlemen." She began, totally throwing Samantha for a loop. She was being _civil_ after just complaining about how she hated the government?. _Maybe I could ask for pointers for the next press conference?_

The faces began glances across to each other, their previous emotions now masked and replaced with a stern professionalism. One man, with bright blonde hair and baggy black eyes made a grunting noise before giving the woman in front of him a nod.

Samantha recalled an old western movie as the two stared off at each other.

"Why…_thank_ you for bringing back Samantha so we may finish our meeting, Miss Zackery."

_Snide bastards_ Zackery mentally hissed, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip.

"Actually, Sam brought _me_ here. Said you guys had some…_questions_ you'd like to ask me? You know…clear up some rumors or any _accusations?_"

Quiet murmurs crackled over the speakers as the governments top dogs communicated between each other. It was fairly obvious that they hadn't been expecting the older sister's presence, much less have her boldly stand there…._daring_ them to tell her to leave or otherwise.

An orient man with crisp blue eyes leaned towards the screen, lacing his fingers together thoughtfully.

"We have some…concerns in which we hope you will be able to shed light on."

"Concerns, my ass. Sexual favors? Come on, only _you_ could come up with that kind of originality, **Sen.**" Zackery ground out in annoyance.

"Please, Miss Witwicky. In this room, there is something called _manners_ we all share." A voice sniped from another part of the room. No wonder why Samantha might have felt overwhelmed. The positioning of the screens made one feel…surrounded. It was _almost_ unnerving, and a spineless way to mess with their chosen victim. It was also another reason why Zackery had told her to _always_ have someone with her at these meetings.

"Alright. Ask me what your concerns are so that we may ease your troubled minds."

Samantha had to force herself not to giggle. If her older sister was so good at fending off these guys, then why isn't she the liaison? Well, _before_ the government hated her…

There was a movement and a pile of papers were shuffled somewhere to her right where her current (and soon-to-be fired) budget supervisor, Ryan Josephs sat. He cleared his throat before reading off the list. Zackery could tell that he was fairly amused at her situation.

_Money hungry ape_ her voice echoed angrily, focusing a hard glare in his direction. It only made his eyes light up, happily.

"Back in the year of 2032, a number of illegal withdrawals on multiple Autobot accounts were logged and authorized with the pass codes assigned to Zackery Witwicky."

Samantha watched as all of the faces began to frown, all pinning eyes on her older sister who seemed completely oblivious as she kept her stern glare on Ryan. Since day one the two have never gotten along: Ryan was always trying to nickel and dime when it came to supplies the Autobots needed and Zackery hated the way he was always whining about one thing or another while looking over their transactions. He was just never happy with whatever they chose to do.

Now, as he began listing off high dollar transactions, Samantha began to wonder why he had agreed to take the job if he wanted to make the 'Bots miserable; it never would have worked to begin with.

_He could have saved us a headache and joined those idiots who want the 'Cons to win._

"A $150,000 rounded total in charges on May 9th, 2032 at a…"

Her gaze focused on her older sister, who seemed completely unfazed despite her livid posture.

"Medical expenses paid off with a rounded total of $65,000 charged on May 23rd…."

It seemed that as more charges were listed, the more livid her body became. Samantha blinked.

"And finally, a $56,000 rounded total in charges filed on May 30th, 2032. All transactions for that month were totaled at about 3.1 million dollars thus leading to our monthly budget being exceeded by 2 million."

The murmurs heard throughout the room sounded very angry and smug. Everyone already knew about those charges; Zackery had, coincidentally, been severely sick and the illness had lasted a month and had her bedridden in Ratchet's office. There was no way she had made those transactions herself and had paid them back with her own money as an apology of sorts. Strangely enough, there haven't been any withdrawals since then….

_Why are they bringing that up if it's already taken care of?_

"What this list shows is an act of irresponsibility on her part. I ask that the Board suspend her from her financial duties, as the reports for these transactions do not fit the specified timeline."

Samantha's mind slowed to a crawl as she processed the information only to jump when her sister's fist connected with the table.

"Are you _kidding_ me? That was _**4 years**_ ago! Optimus and the President himself already cleared it. I even paid it back with _my __**own**_money since the pass codes were _obviously_ stolen! Or did you miss the fact that I had been bed-ridden because Ratchet-"

Ryan, in turn, slammed down his stack of papers and picked up another. "And your _irresponsibility_ is what caused someone to get _your_ pass codes!" He then proceeded to read off another list, then toss the paper, then continue on with this process as he continued yelling.

"All of these charges! (toss) One after another, for one whole month! (toss) While you were _conveniently_ ill! (toss)."

"Ratchet's medical report _clearly_ states-"

"_**FORGET**_ what the reports say! They don't match up with the _evidence_!"

Sen cleared his throat, him and everyone else listening to the exchange carefully as Ryan steamed down. He almost chuckled at how Zackery's fist slammed into the table again with much less force than before.

_She must have injured herself. Such blind anger…_

"Please, you two…this is a _civil_ meeting. Zackery, I suggest you keep your language and manners in check."

"So I'm supposed to just stand here and take his shit?" Samantha's mouth dropped open at that remark. Her sister is going to be in _so_ much trouble for that!

"If you don't want to be removed from this meeting-"

"I have to take _yours_ too?"

Samantha took that moment to pinch her sister's side, ignoring the yip of pain while whispering a small 'Behave!'. The faces on the wall didn't look too pleased at Zackery whining about how unfair they were being. Ryan decided to pull out his trump card that would _end_ this meeting and get both Zackery and Barricade off base for good.

If he couldn't get the youngest Witwicky child out of the way, he could at _least_ get the sister who seems to do nothing but cause more problems.

* * *

Bumblebee didn't _mean_ to listen in on the meeting until he heard the sound of something hitting something hard -and loud- enough to make him spring into 'alert' mode. The next crash and breaking of glass had him about ready to tear down the doors to check the status of Samantha, but they burst open of their own accord and out ran…

Mr. Ryan?

The look of pure rage on the man's face was something Bumblebee had only witnessed once before, but there also a mixture of smugness and fear as well.

"You get back here you slime ball!"

"Someone _please_ restrain her and get her into confinement!"

The yellow scout watched the scene before him unfold into a mass of chaos when Zackery burst from the room to give chase to Ryan, her left fist seemingly crumpled and red while her visor was thrown in an attempt to trip the man before he turned a corner.

Again his sensors went on high alert after Samantha's distressed cry of "Zackery!" ripped through the hallway. Oh how he _hated_ that horrible tone come from her; it nearly broke his spark in half. The only way to correct it was to make her happy. To make her happy he would need to stop Zackery before she injured herself further.

_Or Mr. Ryan…_

He transformed into his sleek, freshly waxed vehicle form and tore down the hallway, leaving deep dents in the gray metal flooring.

"_It has come to our attention that you had given someone access to your system…_"

Someone she knew but no longer trusted.

"_Did you not got through the whole clearance check before allowing him access? Was because at the time you were both romantically involved?_"

_**What did it matter?**_

Her hand throbbed in pulses, each one becoming more painful than the last but it was nothing compared to the horribly tight feeling her chest was giving as she chased after the man who had just made her life go downhill.

Barricade always told her if she ever went down, at least go down fighting…and that's exactly what she was going to do as soon as she got her working hand around Ryan's throat. Not only had she been forced into a 'suspension-period' but it seemed that they had already cornered Optimus about the issue before the meeting was even _scheduled_. Zackery now hated the tall and silent leader more than she had before. This was their plan _all along_….

_If I can kill him before he can even start working then I still have a chance to save us all!_

Or maybe not _kill_ him…maybe shake him up enough? Maybe some sort of physiological torture would help? Samantha and Prowl were good at that and all Zackery had to do was catch the damned man.

The screeching of tires and a blur of yellow cutting off her view of her target, however, ruined her plans. She halted her chase, seething as the yellow Autobot unfolded from car to bi-pedal. His look was enough to let her know his intentions…

_Damn it, Ryan got away…._

"You let him get away, bug!" Zackery snapped, her eye twitching from the sudden pulse of pain from her hand. Looks like the adrenaline was a little _too_ short lived.

Bumblebee's stiff posture was what she liked to call 'defensive'. From years of observation on the mech she oh-so hated, she learned all but one of his many postures. Some of them looked mimicked from what she had seen other humans do, which had disturbed her at first.

It also made her hate him more.

"You're putting your sister in duress. Cease your hostile actions and surrender silently."

"Do I look like I care right now? Move!"

"Make me."

That floored her thought process long enough before she felt rough hands suddenly wrench her own behind her. Now she immediately added Bumblebee to her 'Kill Later' list.

Or that's what she was thinking until she found herself shoved onto the floor, her head tilted to where her blind side was facing up. Grumbles and grunts of the two men holding her down and restraining her almost made her giggle in some sort of weird and twisted glee. If it weren't for the fact that the yellow scout in front of her just contacted Ironhide, she _would_ have giggled.

_Fuck…_

Once Optimus finds out she tried to assault a government representative she was so screwed. To Zackery, destroying the screen with a certain annoying face was an added bonus.

But there was another thing she felt couldn't be taken away from her small victory.

Hopefully her small act of defiance would be enough to show Samantha that she shouldn't be so quick to trust any poisoned and dirty words that come from anyone on the President's side; none of them could be trusted.

Zackery knew that she had lost the fight, but the others were their loss.

She grinned as she was hauled off to 'confinement'. These government dogs were going to get theirs.

* * *

Man, all it took was a good kick and I was into writing again! That and for some reason, Maple story has become quite entertaining…_**FOR NOW **_Dx I had to cut this snippet off because it actually ties into the original story line; if I give you any more it'll give away some really important and hidden facts~!

First chapter of Budget Supervisor From Hell is up; still taking Q&A questions! Currently planning out chapter 2 and 5 other snippets…

And thank you everyone who were so nice and reviewed; I honestly would have taken longer to update if it hadn't been for you. ALSO; next snippet there will be a guest star appearance of one nice little kid name Kari who originates from 21Jellybeans' story, An Unexpected Future. It's an awesome fic, and you need to go read it.

Like..Now. One last note; Budget Supervisor will probably be more than 10 chapters long, and after it's gone and finished I will begin working out my trilogy. Look forward to it, okay?

And now for review replies!

_**21Jellybeans:**__I can't help but feel a bit more lazy after reading this…LOL but worry not! I'm trying my best to not lose…erm…tempo!_

_**Forever Dreaming Grace: **__Oc x Oc fluffiness is always awesome, that and I couldn't really fit Zackery with anyone. Well, I COULD but sometimes I'm just too lazy. Hehe. Until next time! X3_

_**loki09 aka ttre208: **__Thanks Mr. IKNOWWHOYOUARE! XD Will keep up with this? THAT is the question…_

_Hmm…I don't know what snippet I want to finish first…_


	7. Pink Hater

Since I had hinted at a snippet for Christmas and skipped out on it *cough*sorryI'mlazy*cough* I decided to give out a Valentine's Day snippet!

It's two parts, but they're in this one awesome chapter! First this snippet will have some actual…erm…_plot_ and the next part will show who got what and their priceless reactions. By the way, did you know I have B.S from Hell posted, already? You should go check out the first chapter.

Reviews are awesome and always loved. I need to get back to work…

21Jellybeans is _my_ friend…_**MINE!**_ I no share good wif others!

_**Summary:**__ It seems the occupants of Diego Garcia have something going on for Valentine's Day…_

_**Warnings:**__ Mild scene of suggestion. So I _suggest_ you take caution. There, it's gone now (NOT REALLY LOL)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Zackery, Samantha, Vox, Noel, and any other N.E.S.T personnel mentioned that didn't exist until I MADE them exist makes them…__**mine**__. No touchy._

**Happy Valentine's Day From My Groupies**

* * *

Even at 3 o'clock in the morning there was just _no end_ to the work that seemed to pile up; it's the main reason she tried not to sleep. Eating also seemed to be a chore, and if it weren't for the small snacks and vitamin drinks Samantha would force onto her, Zackery would probably have killed herself of starvation a _looong_ time ago. Hiring help wouldn't do any good, despite the fact Prowl had always told her she needed to train someone to do her duties should a 'Con ever kill her. For The Harvest Project, none of the Autobots would trust anyone else to do it…

_Maybe I should at least hire an assistant?_

_Ah, but that would be too much trouble._

Her mind had always argued back and forth whenever the stray thought would come up and only seemed to stop if she stuck a note to herself listing mechs she would have to speak to for clearance on such a thing.

Zackery would then forget and start the whole process again.

On this particular day, however, when the clock chimed on 3 Zackery stopped whatever she was doing and stretched until every joint in her body popped away the stiffness.

The bleeping date highlighted on her visor made her already tired eyes burn.

"February 14th…." She muttered before yawning loudly. Wasn't something important supposed to happen today? Her mind was so clouded right now…

_I guess not if I haven't had any reminders appear…_Shrugging off the thought, she then proceeded to clean up her work bench by tossing scrap or spare metal into a bucket on her left, causing Zackery to flinch when she suddenly remembered she wasn't the only one in the room.

Around 7 the night before, Vox had stumbled inside the hangar with an offline and slightly damaged Sunstreaker. She wasn't happy…for one she'd either have to ask someone to _keep_ him offline until she could get him fixed and repainted, or have him come back online and fix him while he was in a pissy mood. Neither option seemed good until Vox dumped the Giant Yellow Terror onto a 'bed' that formed from the hangar padding.

"I'm guessing he either went head-first into an explosion or he found a tumble buddy." Zackery stated flatly while re-adjusting her gloves so they fit a bit more tightly.

Vox merely nodded, fixating his full attention on her as she trudged over to the offline mech. "A mine prototype." Was the simple answer; it didn't explain everything but it was enough for now. Judging by the fact that 'lil Sunstreaker was in her hangar, Zackery knew that whatever he was doing when the mine went off was something he _shouldn't_ have been doing.

She sighed.

Thankfully, he had remained offline the entire 8 hours Zackery had been working on him; knocking out dents, pulling out mine fragments from his armor, trying to buff out the scratches, and even patches a few holes…

All that needed to be done was the paint and she had gone against her better judgment in leaving that part for the vain mech. He would probably wake up and blame _her_ for the damage…

Oh, Zackery could not _wait_ to show him the bill for repairs. She had to waste precious materials that she had been short on that week, and the next shipment still wouldn't be in for another 5 days.

Now as she sat and stared at the lit screen of her visor, she suddenly found herself leaning over and her vision darkening.

* * *

Around 5 hours later, Zackery had awoken and wandered to the mess hall to discover something very disturbing.

Everyone seemed to have just…disappeared. At this time of morning, the eating area would have been _bustling_ with activity; people changing shifts or taking a break to play a game of card, the usual mech or two would stop by to chat or ask for someone they were looking for…nothing but emptiness.

No loud chatter or clatter-

No laughter or games-

Not a single sign of humans or Cybertronian alike.

She was starting to get worried now…

* * *

When Zackery returned to her hangar, she was met with another unpleasant sight. Not only had the main door been left wide open, but Sunstreaker -now fully awake and painted- was peering inside with the most curious of glances with a servo on his chin.

That's _never_ a good sign….

"Do you know what's going on?" She quipped, going over to stand at the bottom of his feet. Why did he seem so…_impressed_?

It wasn't until she was in front of her hangar door did Zackery then realize something _horrible_…

The important thing she had forgotten-

That…_thing_ she should have added so she could _run_-

And someone….**someone** was going to be killed for using _pink!_

"It ain't half bad, fleshy." Rumbled Sunstreaker, who had apparently been using his servo to suppress the laughter.

_Bastard…_she grouched, peering into her hangar.

In bright pink and black letters, the words 'I heart you' were scribbled all over the floor and wall padding. Bright streamers of white and every shade of pink littered the ceiling, and 'Apple Bottom Jeans' was playing loudly over her speaker system.

Zackery hated that song.

She also hated how every soldier on base was having a party in her hangar with the mechs in vehicle form, rocking on their wheels to the music.

Valentine's day was the most hated holiday _ever_. Not as much as Christmas but it was damn close.

Even Samantha seemed to be having a good time, sipping something in a cup and cheering on the soldiers who broke out into a break dancing contest with each other.

Zackery rubbed her fore-head as Sunstreaker smirked, transforming to roll into the hangar and join his brother.

_I hate pink…_

* * *

_It's a small half-assed snippet, but it also has another part! I wrote this up real quick to let you guys know I'm not dead. I've been working and going through drama but me and 21Jellybeans have something EPIC in the works. I'll try to hurry and get the snippets I promised you along with getting the BS story done. _

_I have a few PMS saying you guys want my original story and you shall have it!_

_ALSO quick heads up. I'm going to be re-doing the first and second chapters of my snippets. I just don't like how a few parts were on there. Just so you know…_

_Nighto._


	8. Wheeljack Confetti?

Oh wait…I'm alive?

Surely you jest! Well…not really. Hehehe I'm back! And I hope you guys are ready. That was one long case of some serious attitude of 'I'll write a chapter later'! Why? Because my other laptop has been….temporarily disposed of until I can get another screen for it.

Be happy. Love the snippet. And let me know how you feel about me waiting a year to update. Just…hate me and love me. Happy 4th~! Cause I'm BACK!

* * *

**Wheeljack Confetti?**

Ironhide was comfortably resting in his vehicle mode on one of Diego's many airfield strips, enjoying the sunny day off he had earned after realizing there was no work to do or finish. It wasn't something he would complain about, either.

No annoying mini-twins to stop from fighting, no Barricade to scuffle with, no Noel to harass, and no Ratchet to avoid. There was even time to stop by the hangar for some good old fashioned maintenance and a scrubbing to get the grit out from in between his armor.

It was what he deemed as a perfect day with no troubles….though he couldn't help but feel like he had forgotten something.

"You're looking very young, today. Get yourself one of Zackery's washes?"

He _HAD_ forgotten something, until he heard the oh-_so_ familiar voice he didn't want to hear for the next few days. "Would be nicer if your aft wasn't in my sun." Ironhide retaliated at the golden mech that now stood over him.

There went all of his happy feeling of relaxation along with his chance of a peaceful recharge. Ironhide was silently cursing Sunstreaker while the twin smirked down at him. "Pay up, half-bit. You owe me 100 credits and 3 barrels of the expensive high-grade."

When Ironhide's engine rumbled darkled, he only chuckled in reply while holding out an eager servo. "I ain't paying you a damn thing, youngling." The weapon's specialist grouched out. "That high-grade is going to take a chunk out of my hard-earned stash, and the bet wasn't even official."

"Like slag it wasn't."

"Like slag it was."

Sunstreaker glowered at Ironhide's truck mode as the seams slowly started to appear, bristling in obvious anger as the both of them continued their argument.

* * *

A sensory panel slowly twitched in curiosity as Vox stood nervously next Zackery, watching Sunstreaker's calm form turn to his usual snappish attitude while he argued with Ironhide. "It seems like he is egging the poor mech on." He mused, more to himself than her. It just seemed like one of their usual spats, which usually ended with the twin storming away to leave a smug weapon's specialist to his own devices.

"If I didn't know any better, I think Sunstreaker tricked poor Wheeljack into another weapon prototype." Zackery replied flatly, crossing her arms. "Though, isn't that mad scientist supposed to be a genius and not fall for things like that?"

"He is." Vox told her, insulted that she would say something like that. Without Wheeljack, their base couldn't have been safer, and their human companions would have dwindled if the scientist hadn't upgraded their weapons.

The look that she gave him, however, had him turning to stare off back at the now heated argument across the tarmac. "He loves doing what he does."

"That nutcase enjoys blowing himself to bits?" Zackery asked in fake bewilderment. "Oh, well that's just dandy! We should use him as a Kamikaze or something. Strap one of his inventions to his back and send him running to the first Decepticon he sees."

There was a short silence between them as his panels twitched again after Sunstreaker let out a rather nasty insult. Vox could hear Ironhide's engine go from a calm rumble to a snarl. "What was the bet?" He asked, ignoring the huff that Zackery let out. This was where he was thankful to have her as a friend, as well as his crush. Vox was more than patient with the Witwicky's rough-edged attitude and short temper.

He merely blamed Barricade for the small things, keeping in mind that she had been raised by an ex-con. It was only natural that Zackery take on a few of his habits.

"Ironhide bet that Wheeljack couldn't sneak another prototype into his testing hanger." Came the curt reply, one that had Vox glancing at Zackery while she ran a hand over her bandanna. "They got a pretty high stake going, and Sunny won. That kooky scientist just walked by about twenty minutes ago while I was washing Ironhide."

That last sentence was enough to make his sensory panels hitch up.

* * *

.:.I need all available Autobots for assistance on the first level.:.

Sideswipe perked up at the communication over Diego's main frequency. Quite a few mechs sent both suspicious and worried replies as Vox seemed a little panicked.

.:. Wheeljack has an unidentified weapon prototype in the testing bunker!.:.

It was as if the base woke up when the bomb siren started blaring. He stayed leaning against the wall while the humans in the recreational room suddenly scrambled to get to their gear. Tables and drinks were tipped over, card games forgotten, and even the stray mech or two left their high-grade behind.

Almost every frequency became active with panicked mechs trying to warn humans to get off of the first level and seek shelter, making Sideswipe sigh and move away from his spot. He knew Ratchet was going to fritz and possibly even dismantle his brother…if he ever found out about the bet anyways.

* * *

When the bomb sirens went off, Zackery's visor snapped over her eyes. It startled her enough to make her jump, thus startling Vox out of his thoughts. Even Ironhide and Sunstreaker stopped their insult spitting contest and looked around as the human soldiers ran for the elevator.

.:. It seems I've been found out. Does this mean I can shoot now?.:. Came out of the visor speakers as well as the base's main frequency. Zackery couldn't stop from rolling her eyes when Ratchet came through, shorting out the audio a few times when he would spit out an angry burst of static.

.:. If you fire that thing on base and you will be questioning reasons as to why you were created!.:. The medic snarled.

It was one thing to sneak dangerous experiments past Ratchet (_**especially **_if the medic was hell bent on human safety), but it was another to be openly happy with the fact, and Vox could tell by the cheer in Wheeljack's voice that the scientist was all too happy for the situation.

There wasn't even a warning other than Zackery's startled yell when the ground shook violently….and then a small building in the distance burst like a balloon into a wave of purple smoke surrounded by green flames. Ironhide transformed in record time and was running towards the wreckage, Sunstreaker trailing behind him not too far away….

And then something landed onto the ground next to Vox. The mech's proximity warnings went haywire, and Zackery let out another startled yell as the object let out a jet of sparks.

"What the hell?" She yelled, scrambling to get away from it and hide behind Vox as mechs started to unload from the elevator….

Something else then landed on the runway, not too far from where Ironhide had been resting…..then another landed close enough to Ratchet that he stopped his murderous stomping towards the shed to look down and see what it was.

The look of pure concentration suddenly fading into a scowl was all too common for the CMO.

.:. Do you know how fragging long it's going to take for me to put him back together?.:. He asked over the comms, taking his time to look over another object that suddenly 'thumped' behind him.

Zackery also leaned around Vox's leg to look at the wreckage and immediately grimaced. "Ew…Wheeljack needs to start having limbs like a doll or something. I don't know how many arms Ratchet is willing to remodel after this."

"Agreed. This is very disturbing." The mech replied, holding back the sudden need to purge his tanks as the scalded armor twitched.

It had been nearly a week later since the incident. Wheeljack was still offline, having lost several important components in his body that were needed to maintain his energon and heating levels. Ratchet was on everyone's 'Avoid At All Costs' list, and Prowl had to (yet again) create a new policy for the residents and fighters of Diego Garcia. Though it was only written up after the oldest Witwicky had joked about the small fact that Wheeljack was like confetti during Independence Day.

* * *

Happy Fourth Of July. My writing style has sorta changed…and I hope this chapter doesn't seemed rushed. But it was long over-do...though a day late and a dollar short xD Hopefully the words don't get cut out like they were in the editor.

Until next time.


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